Easy Roasted Oyster and Exotic Mushrooms
On busy days sheet pan meals or roasting is such a wonderful option. Since our oyster mushrooms never have any chemicals or pesticides and minimal growing substrate to cut off, I can prepare a whole tray of mushrooms to roast in less than 2 minutes. If using other mushrooms that require cleaning with a damp towel, it is still less than ten minutes.
I read over 10 recipes before making my own. Yes, you read that right 10 whole recipes. Normally there are some serious variations, but these were all pretty similar and wrong. I tried making them and they didn’t work as advertised. They called for an hour's cooking time, draining the liquid or drowning in oil. I don’t think that button or portabella mushrooms cook the same as oyster mushrooms. I ended up using directions one of my customers gave me. She roasts my mushrooms every week and she said it should be easy. I hope you find it so as well.
Some recipes call for really high temperatures, but 375°F (190°C) works perfectly and concentrates the flavor.
Do not drain off your mushrooms. It will limit their flavor as much of the yumminess is in the juice. To make sure there isn’t too much juice in the pan which can make for slower cooking, don’t crowd the pan. I found this simple hack sped up cooking time and resulted in no excess liquid. I know that tendency is to think mushrooms cook down 50% so fill the pan to overflowing, but resist. A half a pound fits well on a large sheet pan, but don’t fill it with one pound of mushrooms.
Larger mushrooms take longer to roast and you should adjust your cook time accordingly. Just roast them until browned and slightly crispy.
These mushrooms last well and can be cooked at the beginning of the week and used for at least 5 days. Try them cold in salads, add a flavor bomb to your pasta, or mix with your favorite vegetable.
